Tag Archives: Christmas Decorations

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…Festive Music By Charlie Brown and Friends

By

 

On the sixth day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…festive music by Charlie Brown and friends. “Close your eyes, Mommy!” my daughter signaled as she got ready to press the button of one of the characters. She then said, “You can now open your eyes, Mommy! Which character do you think is leading the band this time?” I thought for a few seconds and said, “Linus!” She shook her head, “Nope, but I’ll give you a glue. The person is next to Charlie Brown.” I then shouted, “Lucy!” Quinn smiled and said, “Yes, you got it right!”

Last year, I purchased a Mickey Mouse character musical set from Hallmark, and this year, I could not resist purchasing the Peanuts set with Charlie Brown, Lucy, Schroeder, Linus and Snoopy. This one even has the option of adding spotlights, which I just had to have and my four year old loves. Since the holiday season has been in full swing, not a day goes by that she doesn’t press a button or two to hear a Christmas tune by one of the characters. She even inquired if I thought Sally, Charlie Brown’s sister would be added at some point. It’s such a cute set, and I think it will become a collectible and one of the decorations Quinn will look forward to in the years to come.

 

All the best,

Tanya

On the Second Day of Christmas, My Daughter Gave to Me…Too Much Fun Decorating

By

On the second day of Christmas, my daughter gave to me…too much fun decorating and one great outing selecting our Christmas tree. Whether purchasing a real Christmas tree  or digging the artificial one out of the attic or basement, the hope is that it will be a fun time for all decorating the tree and that it will not be just one person doing all of the work.

Luckily, my four year old loves decorating and wanted to start putting ornaments on our tree as soon as it was erected in our dining room corner. We waited one day in the event that the tree expanded some after being tied up to our car and in the cold, and that Sunday after Thanksgiving we got to work.

Last year, Quinn wanted a rainbow tree and asked for the same this year. While she handled the lower colors: green, blue, purple and pink (I know pink is technically not in the rainbow, but Quinn loves the color), I handled the upper colors: red, orange and yellow. This was such a great activity because Quinn loves sorting the colors as she did last year. This year, she even asked if her doll’s could help. How could I refuse? “Sure, the more the merrier,” I told her.

After we finished decorating, she asked me, “Do you think Heavenly Brownie (That’s what she named our tree) likes the way we decorated him? Do you think he’s happy to be in our home?” I responded, “Absolutely!”

All the best,

Tanya

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, My Little Girl Gave to Me…Fun Activities for Christmas Eve

By

“So today is Christmas Eve?” my daughter inquired. “Yes, it is!” I responded. Christmas Eve can be such a busy and even stressful time, but I truly did enjoy the fun activities we did this year.

We started out by catching a 9:30 am showing of the movie “Sing,” which was a fun movie that my daughter and I both enjoyed. Later on in the afternoon, we baked cookies for Santa with Quinn sneaking a handful of sprinkles every so often. After dinner, my husband suggested that we drive through our neighborhood to take a look at some of the homes decked out in beautiful Christmas lights. One home really stood out from the rest, so much so that we parked our car and got out to take a look. The people were so kind and even offered a candy cane to my daughter and said that she can take a picture with the big teddy bear they had on display. I’m already thinking about how we can improve our own Christmas lights for next year as a result of seeing theirs.

Before bed, I presented Quinn with a snowflake that illuminates letting Santa know to stop by our house for her. She was eager to get to bed just to hang it in the window.

Now that she’s sleep, it’s time for my husband and I to get ready for Santa’s visit. Here’s to a great Christmas Eve.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Ninth Day of Christmas, My Little Girl Gave to Me…Fun and Dancing with The Disney Express

By

On the Ninth Day of Christmas, My Little Girl Gave to Me…Fun and Dancing with The Disney Express.

 

“Which one should I press this time, Mommy: Mickey or Goofy?” my three year old asked with her pointer finger ready. “How about Goofy this time?” I suggested. Upon pressing the button near Goofy, the Christmas song came on, and all of the characters started moving in beat making it look like the train and cabooses were moving.

About a month ago, my daughter and I were in Hallmark getting our Christmas cards, and she pulled on my arm and motioned for me to follow her, “Look mommy! It’s Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto! They’re riding a train!” Quinn loves trains, and I was actually thinking about getting a new Christmas display, so it didn’t take much for her to convince me to make the purchase of the Disney Christmas Express.

While the characters can be purchased separately, I decided to get the entire set since they can be linked together to move in unison. Needless to say, my little girl was happy about that and has asked to press it as soon as she comes down stairs everyday since we set it up.  Each character plays three different instrumentals of Christmas songs, so with all five, there are fifteen.

It’s so upbeat that Quinn and I will often stop what we are doing once the music starts to dance around and have a little fun.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, My Little Girl Gave to Me…A Lesson in Gingerbread House Decorating

By

 

On the Eighth Day of Christmas, My Little Girl Gave to Me…A Lesson in Gingerbread House Decorating.

“Shopkins, Shopkins! Mommy, I need to look at the box first so that I have some decoration ideas for my gingerbread house,” my three year old informed me. Last year, we did a gingerbread train with her older cousin. While she enjoyed the activity, she really loved eating the candy more than using it to decorate.

This year, Quinn was excited when she saw that I got her a Shopkins gingerbread house and was eager to put it together as she studied the box to determine exactly how she wanted it to look. “I want the Shopkins gummies on the door and the different candies on the roof with more gummies. Does that sound like a good idea, Mommy?” she asked. “Of course, that sounds like a great idea, Quinn,” I reassured her.

Even though I helped Quinn with piping the pink frosting to put the foundation of the gingerbread house together,  I was impressed with how she took charge and did most of the decorating herself. Her finished product was just perfect, so perfect that she asked, “When can we eat some of the gingerbread house?!”

All the best,

Tanya

On the “Actual” Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

By
2015-12-25 07.28.02

Quinn Enjoying Her Christmas Present: Lambie from Doc McStuffins

On the “actual” day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me joy selecting a Christmas tree,  memorable moments decorating, festive and fun goofing around, partying all night, excitement while visiting Santa Claus, counting down the days, happiness at Sesame Place, bonding time making our own tree, befriending Santa’s elf on the shelf, creating a chocolate cookie candy train, receiving messages from the North Pole, baking cookies for Santa Claus and witnessing the happiness in my daughter’s eyes!

This Christmas day, my two and a half year old woke up at 6:37 am, which is around the time she usually wakes up, but today she knew it was Christmas and asked, “Did Santa come, Mommy?” I told her, “Let’s go see!” “Wow, look at all these presents, Mommy! How did Santa get them here? Where did he get them from? Did he go to the store?” My inquisitive little girl was full of questions. “May I open one please, Mommy?” With each gift she opened, the excitement continued to build, and when she finally got to the one gift she asked Santa for when she visited and took a picture with him, she was so happy. “Mommy, Santa got me Lambie! I asked for Lambie when I talked to Santa!”

What made me a proud mommy is that with each gift Quinn opened, she thanked her father and me and asked if she could thank Santa too. She also gave me the opportunity to be a big kid and play with some of her gifts with her. After a morning filled with fun and what felt like never-ending playtime, we both took a nap and then had a wonderful time with our relatives. Watching Quinn interact with her cousins was reminiscent of the fun times I had with my siblings and cousins.

Before she dozed off on the car ride home a little before 11:00 pm, my husband and I asked her how was her Christmas, and she said, “It was great! I got Lambie, saw family (she actually named everyone) and had a good day!” What a wonderful way to spend the Christmas holiday. Here’s to many years to come counting down the days of Christmas with my little girl!

Happy Holidays,

Tanya H. Franklin

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

By
2015-12-24 12.25.44

Quinn is Ready to Bake Cookies for Santa

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me joy selecting a Christmas tree,  memorable moments decorating, festive and fun goofing around, partying all night, excitement while visiting Santa Claus, counting down the days, happiness at Sesame Place, bonding time making our own tree, befriending Santa’s elf on the shelf, creating a chocolate cookie candy train, receiving messages from the North Pole and baking cookies for Santa Claus!

One of my favorite Christmas activities since I was a young child is baking Christmas cookies for Santa with my siblings and mother. Now, it feels wonderful to continue that tradition with my two and a half year old daughter. Even though I do like preparing the cookies from scratch, sometimes Quinn loses interest when we are baking, so to ensure that it was a fun and quick activity for her, we used the pre-made Pillsbury sugar cookies and a cookie pan with the shapes already cut out.

To make baking cookies for Santa memorable for my little girl and to establish our own Christmas Eve tradition, we used a special plate just for Santa that Quinn’s auntie purchased for her, and I gave her a little red apron that says, “Santa’s Little Helper” to make her feel special and like a real baker.

Quinn’s favorite part, which was mine too when I was younger, is putting sprinkles on the cookies and, of course, having a cookie or two to make sure they are perfect for Santa.

Happy holidays,

Tanya H. Franklin

2015-12-24 13.43.37

Quinn Making Sure Santa’s Cookies Are Tasty

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

By
2015-12-23 16.44.36

Quinn with Her North Pole Message Machine

 

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me joy selecting a Christmas tree,  memorable moments decorating, festive and fun goofing around, partying all night, excitement while visiting Santa Claus, counting down the days, happiness at Sesame Place, bonding time making our own tree, befriending Santa’s elf on the shelf, creating a chocolate cookie candy train and receiving messages from the North Pole!

When I was younger, I was not only fascinated with Santa Claus but the North Pole as well. What I wouldn’t give to be granted a special trip to Santa’s Workshop in the North Pole. Though the likelihood of this happening is slim for me, especially as an adult, there is still a glimmer of hope for my daughter. While she is only two and a half and still learning about Christmas, Santa, where he lives and how he knows if she’s been naughty or nice, she does look forward to the communication she receives from her North Pole Message Machine.

Clementine, one of Santa’s head elves, Mrs. Claus, a few other characters and even Santa himself share little facts about what goes on in the North Pole from December 1st through December 25th. At this point, my eight year old niece, who has been spending some time with us for the past few days, does appreciate the North Pole messages a bit more than Quinn. But my daughter already has been able to make the distinction between the voice of one of the male elf’s and Santa. When I think she is not paying attention to the message, she perks up when Santa’s voice comes on and says, “That’s Santa talking from the North Pole! Hi, Santa!”  As Quinn gets older, I have a feeling that she will look forward to the messages more and more. I may be an adult, but I enjoy listening to them as they have added to the Christmas spirit and give us something special to look forward to after breakfast.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Tenth Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

By
2015-12-22 12.07.29

Quinn and Her Big Cousin Decorating Their Train

On the tenth day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me joy selecting a Christmas tree,  memorable moments decorating, festive and fun goofing around, partying all night, excitement while visiting Santa Claus, counting down the days, happiness at Sesame Place, bonding time making our own tree, befriending Santa’s elf on the shelf, and creating a chocolate cookie candy train!

When I was younger, I loved making gingerbread houses out of frosting and candy with my siblings. Today, I still enjoy this activity, but I had the opportunity to do it with my daughter and my niece, who Quinn admires and looks up to as though she is her big sister. Now, there are so many constructions and sizes from which to choose. Initially my two and a half year old selected the Hello Kitty gingerbread figure. Then she chose a house, but after she locked eyes with the chocolate cookie train kit, her mind was set; that was the one she wanted.

This is an activity where I’m glad my niece was able to join us because Quinn is still developing her pincer skills, and she tends to take her big cousin’s lead on activities rather than having me, her mommy, direct her every move. While this was a fun activity, I must admit that it was difficult at times for me not to step in with my “type A” personality and say how “we” should design the train, but I held back and was able to simply appreciate the togetherness and bonding of cousins. I’m sure they both appreciated it as well. What’s funny is that I while I was deciding on an area where we could display the train, they both were thinking about what piece of candy or frosting they were going to eat first. They were, however, kind enough to design a caboose just for me, and Quinn eagerly offered a piece of candy from her train to her daddy. But if I want one for display next time just for Christmas, I guess I better get one for them and one for me.

All the best,

Tanya

On the Eighth Day of Christmas My Toddler Gave to Me…Christmas Fun with My Little One

By
2015-12-10 14.07.58

Quinn is ready to get started!

On the eighth day of Christmas, my toddler gave to me joy selecting a Christmas tree,  memorable moments decorating, festive and fun goofing around, partying all night, excitement while visiting Santa Claus, counting down the days, happiness at Sesame Place and bonding time making our own tree! I’ve always loved doing special art projects in school, and though my two and a half year old is not in day school, I want to ensure that she has the experience of doing special art projects for the holiday. Since she loves the Christmas tree, having her make one herself was a perfect idea. I had a vision of what I wanted us to create together, and we were able to get most of the materials from Target: green tissue paper, green shredded paper, colorful pom pom balls in multiple sizes, puffy red garland and a gold bow. We already had the construction paper,  Modge Podge matte finish and scissors.

We used an 11 x 17 green construction paper. I folded it in half and cut the paper on an angle to make the triangular tree. I thin folded and cut up the tissue paper in rectangular pieces. Then, Quinn took over the project by applying Modge Podge to the tree a little at a time with her sponge then placing the tissue paper on top. To give the tree some texture, we added the shredded green paper with a little more Modge Podge Glue. After allowing the tree to dry, we then added the red garland with glue and taped the backs to make sure it was secure. Then, we added the pom pom balls as ornaments. Once everything was dry, we put the tree on red construction paper as a backing and then added the gold bow as the star. This was a fun project for us both, and now we have two trees for Christmas!

2015-12-10 20.08.51

Our work is displayed on Quinn’s special frame for all to see.

All the best,

Tanya

Here’s a slide show of our project below:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.